O'Malley's Super Bowl tickets went to top aides, delegate

CaptionMaryland first lady Katie O'Malley

Baltimore Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam

Maryland first lady Katie O'Malley, a Baltimore City District Court judge, sat in the governor's skybox for all but two of the Ravens' 11 home games during the 2011 season. According to records provided by Gov. Martin O'Malley's office, Katie O'Malley missed seeing the Ravens play the Jets and...

Maryland first lady Katie O'Malley, a Baltimore City District Court judge, sat in the governor's skybox for all but two of the Ravens' 11 home games during the 2011 season. According to records provided by Gov. Martin O'Malley's office, Katie O'Malley missed seeing the Ravens play the Jets and... (Baltimore Sun photo by Kenneth K. Lam)

Former state Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr., Gov. Martin O'Malley's father-in-law, sat in the governor's skybox for the Ravens' preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Former state Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr., Gov. Martin O'Malley's father-in-law, sat in the governor's skybox for the Ravens' preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs. (Baltimore Sun photo by Karl Merton Ferron)

Three seats for the Nov. 20, 2011 match-up between the Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals were set aside in Gov. Martin O'Malley's M&T Bank Stadium skybox for Baltimore City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young.

Three seats for the Nov. 20, 2011 match-up between the Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals were set aside in Gov. Martin O'Malley's M&T Bank Stadium skybox for Baltimore City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young. (Baltimore Sun photo by Karl Merton Ferron)

As governor, O'Malley has a state skybox at Ravens stadium, which allows him to purchase up to eight Super Bowl tickets, ranging in price from $950 to $1,250 apiece. O'Malley and his wife, Baltimore District Judge Catherine "Katie" Curran O'Malley, used two of those tickets and paid for them with personal funds. Three other pairs of tickets were purchased at face-value by the governor's public affairs director, Stephen Neuman; state budget director T. Eloise Foster; and State Del. Shawn Z. Tarrant, a Baltimore Democrat.

O'Malley spokeswoman Raquel Guillory has said no taxpayer funds were used for the trip.

Like the governor, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake had access to eight tickets because she controls the city's stadium skybox. She and her husband, Kent, paid to attend the game and stayed at a friend's home nearby, according to her spokesman.

James Browning, regional director for the watchdog group Common Cause, has said he would have liked to see the tickets distributed democratically.

"It's a chance to do the right thing and show the real Baltimore and the real diversity, instead of just a bunch of insiders," Browning said. "It's a moment for the whole city to share.... It shouldn't just be for people with political connections or with money or clout."

Last year, Common Cause took issue with the way O'Malley and Rawlings-Blake used their stadium suites, saying they should be used as the "people's skybox," not to reward political allies. The organization also called on the governor and mayor to create a written policy governing how tickets are distributed for the boxes.

Ravens stadium was built with $200 million in public financing. According to the Maryland Stadium Authority, the offices of the mayor and the governor were given boxes through an addendum to the lease agreement for the stadium in 1995.

A small circle of city employees, business leaders, campaign donors and family members counted among guests of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake in Baltimore's private skybox at M&T Bank Stadium. The tickets to Ravens home games, free to the city, were extended for personal and political purposes,...

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan pledged bipartisanship and offered a conciliatory tone during his snowy inauguration Wednesday, promising "to create an environment of trust and cooperation, where the best ideas rise to the top based on upon their merit."

Advocates for programs spending state dollars on stem cell research or investment in technology companies were nervous about what Gov. Larry Hogan's budget would hold for them, given warnings of "strong medicine" to cure fiscal woes.

Calling it a first step toward fully restoring the death penalty in Maryland, Del. Pat McDonough said he plans to introduce a bill that would mandate capital punishment for anyone convicted of killing a police or correctional officer, a firefighter or witness during the performance of their...